Guard With a Knife

The much-anticipated 2013 NBA Draft was held on June 27, 2013 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, USA. All teams were full of enthusiasm for the draft.

The same goes for Adam Silver, because it means he finally gets to stand on the stage and read out the name of the first-round pick. Before this, this was the "prerogative" of league president David Stern. He could only shake hands with second-round picks one after another: most of these guys had no way of entering the league and getting a guaranteed contract.

Maybe to differentiate himself from David Stern.

This year's draft is scheduled to be held at the Barclays Arena in Brooklyn. Although it is not far from the basketball mecca Madison Garden Arena, it still shows an extraordinary flavor.

Interestingly, the Duke appeared at the scene tonight with his fiancée, Ms. Daphne, and they were arranged to watch in a private room.

Later, Black Mamba also followed.

The two superstars of the Lakers came to the draft scene with great fanfare, which obviously exceeded everyone's imagination: isn't this the legendary draft year? Is there any player worthy of these two going to war?

They are the absolute leader of the Purple and Gold Army. In fact, Ms. Daphne is still the third largest shareholder of the Lakers: many teams have opposed this matter, believing that her relationship with Dugger will affect the nature of the club. But whether it was David Stern before or Adam Silver now, they both chose to be wooden people.

Only an idiot would trouble the top star.

When Michael Jordan retired midway, he was still receiving salary from the Bulls. Then when the annual salary of most stars was still hovering below 10 million, he earned an annual salary of more than 30 million US dollars, and he was not included in the team's salary space. .

Compared with what the Duke is doing now, it pales into insignificance.

"Are you really sure that that Greek monster you're betting on can become the next generation Lakers superstar?"

Black Mamba still maintains huge doubts. It's not that he doesn't trust Doug, but he thinks... this thing is ridiculous.

That kid has only been training professionally for basketball for a few years. Not every forward who has become a monk can become Snoopydu!

Doug rolled his eyes at Kobe angrily. Kobe has become more and more effeminate recently, talking too much like a talkative woman... I don’t know if Vanessa realizes it.

"This is a matter for our management, so don't worry about it, okay?"

Doug stood up and walked to the floor-to-ceiling glass in front. Adam Xiao, whose hair was shiny, walked to the center of the stage in high spirits. Then in a measured tone, he announced the choice of the Cleveland native who has the No. 1 pick this year.

Anthony Bennett!

When the name was read out, the sound of surprise on the scene was exactly the same as the Duke's slightly opened mouth: everyone found it incredible.

After all, before this, the forward who was 2.03 meters tall and weighed 240 pounds, and graduated from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, was only ranked around the seventh overall pick by professional draft websites. The template that "NbaDraft" sets for Bennett is Rodney Rogers or Jason Maxiere. Such a template does not look like the person you will be elected as the No. 1 pick.

But now, the people of Cleveland have actually given this forward who has only relied on his body to play in the NCAA a No. 1 pick!

are you crazy?

The well-educated Daphne couldn't help but complain.

In her previous prediction, the Cavaliers would choose either Alex Lunn or Nerlens Noel. But now, Cleveland has given such an elusive option.

It is undeniable that this is definitely the weakest draft in the past 15 years.

Under the witness of the Duke and Black Mamba.

Weird things happened one after another.

First up... Anthony Bennett was elected No. 1 overall. Then, as the top pick before the draft, Noel actually fell to the sixth pick.

This guy played well at the University of Kentucky and is a very strong defensive inside man.

However, it is understandable for the NBA to make such a choice. After all, Noel has many red flags. He has had cruciate ligament surgery on his knee and is currently recovering from injury. He is not expected to return until at least November or December. Although his explosive power, athleticism and defensive qualities are extremely good, with O Every team will consider the lessons learned from Deng. It is worth mentioning that after being selected by the Pelicans with the sixth overall pick, Noel was traded again and was traded to the 76ers. The price Philadelphia paid was Holiday and the No. 42 pick.

In a small draft year, trades occur quite frequently. Before the draft, Nets general manager Billy King revealed that many teams wanted to trade away the draft picks. Sure enough, the transactions of various teams were dazzling that night. There were 11 transactions in the first round alone, and three occurred in the lottery. After the Pelicans selected Noel, they completed a big deal with the 76ers. The Timberwolves selected Trey Burke with the 9th overall pick and then sent him to the Jazz in exchange for the 14th and 21st picks; the Mavericks picked Zagar University center Kelly Olynyk with the 13th overall pick and later traded him to Celtics, in exchange for the No. 16 pick and two future draft picks.

The Lakers-Bucks trade dwarfs the news.

Because the Lakers only traded Jordan Hill for the Bucks' expired contract Gary Neal and the No. 15 pick Giannis Antetokounmpo.

This looks more like trading a rookie on a long-term deal.

"The Lakers have really gone crazy to save salary. I can guarantee that... the stingy Kupchak will reduce the salary space to less than 50 million this summer. They have no intention of signing any valuable players at all. They are only willing to Give me a basic salary, and a super basic salary.”

Bill Walton criticized the Lakers management's operations in the ESPN studio.

In his opinion, spending small money to achieve big things is simply wishful thinking.

He prefers the recent Miami Heat. The Heat's acquisition of Dwight Howard has made them the number one favorite to win next season.

As for the Los Angeles Lakers who continue to take the veteran's minimum salary route, let them feel regret next summer.

Meanwhile, Duggar and Kobe met backstage with the Greek monster Giannis, who didn't even speak English fluently, but the communication was smooth.

Duger told him: "We are very optimistic about you. After you officially join, all the old players will carefully cultivate you. Just wait and see, you will become famous."

The Duke's words gave the Greeks unlimited confidence.

When he first arrived, he never thought that he would join the Los Angeles Lakers, and he never expected that his idol would take the initiative to talk to him, encourage him, and be more optimistic about his future.

He was so happy that he even shed tears.

This made Doug stand on tiptoes slightly and pat his head: "Come on! You will be the ruler of the next era!"

At that moment, the Greek Monster was both very moved and felt that his idol might have had too much to drink.

…

When the time advances to July.

Miami executives sat in a press conference with Dwight Howard at the same time, and both signed their names to a max contract.

This shocking addition even caused some media to shout the slogan: NBA is celebrating its finale.

Pat Riley, who has always been known for his careful calculation, also said in the media: "We will never be stingy with money. We are willing to pay luxury tax for the championship. Our goal is the championship!!"

What he said was sonorous and powerful.

Not many people even doubt that the championship in the new season will go to Miami.

Because the defending champion Lakers seem to be too unprofessional, they just sent Steve Blake to the Phoenix Suns. Exchanged 500,000 in cash and a transaction exception.

It sounds like a nearly bankrupt team is selling off its assets.

Moreover, the next signings are even more troublesome.

First, he signed Stephen Jack with a minimum salary, and then signed Shawn Marion and Nick Young with one-year contracts of US$1.15 million!

Plus Artest and Baron Davis, who were previously signed with minimum salaries.

Is this the plan to gather seven basic salaries and then summon the dragon?

Compared to the Miami Heat, which has four superstars, the Lakers look like a rural enterprise in dunking the ball.

"When you have Snoopy on your team, what other superstars do you need? We don't want to do any of that 'not one superstar, not two superstars, not three superstars, not four superstars...' "We only have one core and we can build a championship team around him."

Kupchak has nothing to do recently, but he has a lot to say.

This hatred almost made LeBron James smash the sandbags at home.

Doesn’t this clearly mock the wild lies he said in 2010?

Just wait and see!

I will definitely let you taste the taste of regret!

LeBron James has been swearing by it all summer.

On the other hand, the Duke really kept his promise.

He spent the whole summer traveling around the world with Daphne, and they were like a fairy couple. Either he was photographed feeding pigeons in Paris, or he was encountered by chance at the London Airport, and then he was spotted soaking in a hot spring in Japan. In short... Throughout the summer, people all over the world were lucky enough to meet the Duke.

It looked like they were getting married soon.

Many media are speculating on this matter.

But the response given by the prospective father-in-law was: They will get married next year.

This made the reporters excited, as if they were about to drink the Duke's wedding wine.

Time flew by, and soon it was July, August, then September, and then October.

During this period, the Duke only filmed 6 commercials and only held 3 concerts.

He finally had a relaxing vacation.

However, unlike other players' leisurely summers, the Duke is both leisurely and wealthy, and his assets are still increasing rapidly.

This caused some financial magazines to start saying: Snoopy is already the richest man under 30 years old. Moreover, as many companies continue to be listed in the future, his assets will even enter the top ten in the world! At that time, I really couldn’t figure out why he had any reason to stay in the NBA and fight physically with a group of multi-millionaires! After all, he will be a super rich man worth tens of billions of dollars by then.

In this regard, the basketball media can't help but have various concerns.

They are also worried that the Duke will suddenly stop playing basketball one day, because it seems that at the age of 24, he does not have much reason to stay in the NBA!

Money, he has already achieved financial freedom.

Honor, in history, no 24-year-old player has been more successful than him.

Although Michael Jordan has been sourly claiming that he is the best and most influential player, but... more and more voices are beginning to lean towards the Duke.

To be honest, Adam Silver is also worried about this matter.

If Bruce Lee announces his retirement just after taking office, the influence of the NBA will shrink greatly.

Fortunately, on the day the Lakers training camp opened, Lakers player No. 10 showed up at the training facility.

And, he looked very happy.

He even gave rookie Giannis a jersey number: No. 23 of the Purple and Gold Army.

Nick Yang also rushed over and asked Duge to help choose a number. The Duke raised his eyebrows: "How about you choose No. 88!"

Nick Young also knew something about Chinese culture, and he quickly asked: "Does this mean getting rich?"

"No, you have to take this number apart and look at it. It means: you are equal to two Kobe Bryants!"

The Duke smiled and joked: "From today on, you will be the main shooting guard of the Purple and Gold Army. That guy Kobe Bryant will spend at least half of his time having children this season."

This word reached Black Mamba's ears, and he almost ran over and strangled the Duke to death.

But I have to say that the atmosphere of the Purple and Gold Army in the new season is even better.

The new and old players quickly integrated in, Nick Young was familiar with them personally, and even though Giannis didn't speak English very well. But under the instructions of Doug, the four old men Stephen Jackson, Ron Artest, Shawn Marion and Baron Davis became this guy's mastermind!

These four people really treat Yangnis as their own son. Step by step, from defense to offense, from feints to staring, to...how to do the black elbow.

Not a single skill was lost.

It seems that this talented Greek monster is regarded as the last work of his career.

The Duke was quite happy about this.

At this time, Nick Young would always run to the Duke cautiously: "Can you ask the great Kobe Bryant to teach me a few tricks?"

Doug gave advice very seriously: "You have learned very well. If you want to earn tens of millions of dollars per year in your next contract, I suggest you learn from Steve Nash!"

About four or five times later, Nick Young actually went to learn from Nash.

Suddenly, the atmosphere of the Lakers training camp became like a training class. All kinds of small stoves are open, and the Duke can only go to eat hot pot with Kyle Korver, Carlos Boozer, Whiteside, and Milich.

In this strong teaching atmosphere, the preseason is coming soon.

Preseason games are often called the beginning of a new season, used to integrate new players into the system and allow players to recuperate after several months of rest.

However, the Lakers played very well in the preseason.

The Duke averaged 6 minutes per game in 8 games, and the Black Mamba averaged 7 minutes per game.

The rest of the old guys are pretty even. Only the three stupid young guys, Giannis, Nick Young, and Whiteside, did it all over the field!

Needless to say, these three played pretty well. After eight games, they only lost 7 games.

The only one to win that was the New York Knicks.

This made New York State fans so angry that they vomited blood: Why is it always me who gets hurt?

…